The coronavirus outbreak: 4 ways to become more employable now

As a generation, we have never experienced a global crisis like the Coronavirus outbreak and as we are told to self-isolate, quarantine and stay indoors, it feels like the end of the world to some of us. We are a very social generation, who enjoy catching up with our friends, traveling, meeting new people and of course, posting all of our activities on Instagram for the world to see!

During hard times like this, you may feel as though you have absolutely nothing to do and it may seem like this lockdown will last forever, but don’t panic, we are here to help you, by maximizing your chances of finding a job during and after this difficult time.

Follow our 4 steps to make yourself more employable during the coronavirus outbreak:

Create a winning CV

Now you have time to finally do the things you have always needed to do. How old is your CV? Have you been using the same template for a long time with little to no results? Well… now is the time to give your CV that much-needed makeover. To help you get through this hard time, we are offering a free CV review from the experts at TopCV.

Even if you aren’t looking for a job right now, use this time to improve your job search tools for the future. After all, the CV review is free and there’s no harm in getting an expert’s opinion now is there?! By using a CV review service, you can considerably increase your chances of employment. It's always beneficial to get a second (expert) opinion on your CV.

Learn a new language

Let's follow up with a hard but useful one... learning a new language. Of course, learning a language requires considerable amounts of time, dedication and concentration, but it’s more than worth it. Realistically, this is the perfect time to start, you are homebound, therefore you have more time to focus and try out new things at home. By learning a new language you are opening the door to hundreds of new opportunities; both work and travel related.

Did you know that by adding a language skill to your CV, you make yourself considerably more employable? Especially when you are up against monolingual candidates. Your increased ability to communicate and your obvious motivation to learn, are two things that recruiters and hiring companies find extremely admirable.

Develop your digital skillset

Is there a digital skill that you have been thinking of learning? Well, it's time to get started. Explore online skills platforms, find a skill or skills that will be beneficial to you and your career. It’s crucial to keep on learning new skills throughout your career, picking up new techniques and new interests along the way. It seems as though the world is advancing faster than we can take and to keep up, we need to try our very best to adapt (particularly in situations like the current coronavirus outbreak!)

One of the main lessons that we will learn from the current coronavirus crisis, is that it helps to be digitally skilled and to have the right resources to work through a hard time like now. With the freedom to work from pretty much anywhere in the world and the added stability of online jobs, it seems that remote jobs and digital skills are the tickets to success.

Build your online network

Now is the time to connect with all of the relevant recruiters, relocation advisors, hiring companies and other professionals that you can find online. Of course, some companies will have their hiring processes on hold during the coronavirus outbreak but even then, you can get one step ahead by connecting and letting them know that you are interested and available for future opportunities.

As all of your networking will be done online, over the next month or so, it's extremely beneficial to update your LinkedIn profile to let recruiters and other professionals know that you are looking for new opportunities. If you are looking for in-depth advice on how to update your LinkedIn profile, we have a step-by-step guide for you to follow here.

We hope that you feel encouraged to carry on with your job search and to keep becoming more employable. It’s extremely important to look at situations like this one and to find a way to work around the problems and to make it work. Of course, this takes thought and commitment but in the end, it will be more than worth it. We hope that you can take our 4 key pieces of advice and use them to your advantage during these quieter and calmer times.